First Preschool, Then the Ivy League

Nursery University

If you thrill to the sight of a preschool teacher bringing an investment banker to his knees, then “Nursery University” is for you. Following five Manhattan families as they navigate the cutthroat competition for elite nursery school spots for their pampered progeny, this knowing documentary from Marc H. Simon and Matthew Makar shows that, in New York City at least, exclusivity breeds contentment.

The movie’s educators and “application consultants” ($4,000 for seven meetings, thank you very much) may debunk the belief that these schools are essential for the Ivy League bound, but try telling that to the frazzled parents. Anxiously speed-dialing for applications and preparing for the all-important family interviews (“Tell them you like the New York Times crossword puzzle,” one father jokingly advises his winsome toddler), otherwise sane adults succumb to anger and frustration.

Photo

A scene from Nursery University, about the competition among parents for spots at elite nursery schools in New York.Credit
Variance Films

“We’re used to getting what we set out to get,” says Heidi, an entrepreneur determined to save her son, Jackson, from “a public school in Harlem.” Cut to Harlem, where the Ragoonath family, immigrants from Trinidad and Tobago, share Heidi’s determination if not her ability to finance it.

Delicately sidestepping the minefields of entitlement and class fear, the filmmakers keep the tone breezy and the view micro. For little Jackson and his peers, privilege is a concept not yet understood.

NURSERY UNIVERSITY

Opens on Friday in Manhattan.

Produced and directed by Marc H. Simon and Matthew Makar; written by Mr. Simon; directors of photography, Samuel Henriques and Bob Richman; edited by Miki Watanabe Milmore and Tom Patterson; music by Chris Hajian; released by Argyle Productions and Elementary Films in association with Variance Films. At the Imaginasian Theater, 239 East 59th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. This film is not rated.